Spooktober

The World Anvil Spooktober Challenge of 2022 offers thirty-one prompt words, each the seed for an eerie or frightening creation. I decided to approach the challenge two ways.

This is a work in progress. Updates will continue over the coming days!

Horror Haiku

Two-sentence horror stories are fun and inspiring, but I decided to try something with different limitations. Can I express a frightful thought about each of the prompt words in three lines with seventeen syllables? Let's find out!

Portrait

Long dead manor lord
Stern visage framed forever
His eyes follow me

Mirror

Evil, sneering smile...
Hateful eyes stare back at me...
What have I become?

Shadow

Moonlight's pale glow shines
My shadow's arms raise, reaching
But I did not move!

Possess

Trapped in my own mind
Demons dominate... control...
How can I escape?

Vanish

The ghost disappeared
Is its threat gone for good?
Or does it lurk still?

Broken

Dark thoughts, twisted dreams
Tormented day and night by
Broken sanity

Spirit

Torn from life too young
Killed by lover as she slept
Her ghost lingers here

Abyss

A dark maw opens...
Black swirls, echoing voices
The Void calls to me.

Abandoned

Forgotten by time
Rotting wood and crumbling stone
What secrets wait here?

Escape

Trapped in the darkness
Looking for light... or for hope
To see sun again

Relic

A smooth, slender wand...
Magical power within?
Or a deadly curse?

Echo

I shout for rescue
It echoes back from the dark
I am left alone

Enchant

My voice compels you
Charmed by its tone, you comply
Your will bent to mine

Slime

Ooze drips from above
Acid hiss and putrid smell
As its victim dissolves

Unquiet

Rattles... creaks... rustling...
Moaning wind... Whispered voices...
Fear grows with each sound

Darkness

Blackness and silence
Enveloping... choking me
Fear grows as hope flees

Misfortune

Mishaps... maladies...
All paths bring only more pain...
I must have been cursed

Haunt

Ghostly moans and cries
Clanking chains and creaking doors
Dare I enter in?

Shatter

The mirror explodes
Terrors from the other side
Pour out as shards fly

Hunt

Keeping to shadows,
Human prey stalked, still unaware
I feed again soon.

Chasm

Too wide for a leap,
My goal taunts across the void
In sight... out of reach

Ruin

Stone tower crumbling
Iron door creaks as rust yields
What ghosts wait within?

Lock

Deft fingers wield picks
The tumblers click into place
Treasure inside? Or trap?

Tear

Incantations voiced...
Reality's fabric is torn
The portal opens

Thorn

A gift, one red rose
Poison glistens on its teeth
She will taunt no more.

Mist

Vapor tendrils rise
Hungry maws concealed... lurking...
Death waits in the marsh

Door

I cower, waiting,
Knob turns slowly... hinges creak...
It comes for me now.

Drown

Lungs bursting... painful
Clutching tendrils pull me down
I have breathed my last

Howl

Hungry wolf calls out
Others answer, all nearby
I am encircled

Whisper

Is it just the wind?
Or are spirits calling me?
They whisper, "Join ussss"

Curse

Sickness... misfortune...
These are all I have left now
The crone's threat came true

Bonus Entries from Cartyrion

In addition to the haikus, I have also taken some of the prompt words as inspiration to add a few new components to the World of Cartyrion.

Mist

As the damp vapors rise over the marshlands, the lost and weary travelers make out faint lights glowing through the mist. The lanterns of other travelers perhaps? They follow the pale lights into the mist, hoping to find welcome and maybe a warm campfire and meal.

Darkness

The adventurers were hopelessly lost in the maze of passages deep beneath the earth when one spied a light glowing at the end of a tunnel. "We're saved, for that is a Lampad's beacon!" cried the Elf. Later, lying broken in a pit with no hope of escape, they realized their error.

Thorn

Vigilance did not help Dandee Barkwhistle, the Halfling bard as he picked his way through the marshland. His feet were suddenly pulled out from under him as as a thick vine coiled around his legs. He cried out as penetrating thorns stung briefly... then his legs went completely numb.

Credits

Headers use the Zombie Holocaust font created by Chad Savage
Body text uses the Alpha Dance font created by Ben McGehee
Banner and side panel images by Peace,love,happiness from Pixabay